The most crucial component of marketing your business online today, and more specifically with SEO, is the content that is being created and published on behalf of your business or organization. Content is at the foundation of all online marketing activities. Without quality content, it’s difficult to gain any sort of SEO traction since content is what gets ranked in the search engines and gets shared in social media. Outside of SEO, it’s also necessary for PPC and email newsletters. The benefits of publishing quality content on a regular basis are obvious, yet many organizations still struggle with it and it doesn’t get done as often as it should or in some cases it doesn’t get done at all. Businesses need to stop making excuses (“There’s not enough time” “There’s nothing to write about”) and stick with it already.

Here are some tips to keep content marketing efforts on track:

Follow an editorial calendar

The key to successful content marketing is to keep your activities organized. It’s a lot easier to ignore content marketing responsibilities when they aren’t outlined for you and you are left to get it done “whenever you can”. It’s likely that those responsible for content efforts wear many hats and are getting pulled in a few different directions. If content isn’t a priority it probably won’t get done. It’s important to plan ahead and create an editorial calendar at the beginning of each week, month, or quarter that outlines what days and times will be dedicated to creating content. It will also outline where the content will be published. Once content creation is a part of the daily routine it won’t be ignored.

Brainstorm topic ideas

“There’s nothing to write about” should never be an excuse to avoid content marketing. No matter what industry or niche you are in, there is plenty to write about. Think about all of the things that your target audience might be interested in. Even a topic that seems “basic” to you might not be basic to them. Consumers are more likely to do business with the organizations that can teach them something and prove that they know their stuff in the process. It’s always better to have a list of potential topics to work off of once you sit down to write. Whenever inspiration strikes, be sure to write down the topic in a journal or notebook so that you don’t forget it later. Topic ideas can come at any time. You might be in a meeting, on the phone with a client, or working on a project when you have an idea.

Get rid of the red tape

In order for content to be valuable, it needs to be seen. The organizations that have a brutal approval process in place are the ones that will miss out on opportunities. When content needs to be approved by multiple departments, managers, etc. it could be outdated by the time it gets published. The content team needs to have some freedom in regards to what gets published and when.

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